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The young boy greith the heroes of another time and another world Robert Farrer, burned at the stake by the Roman Catholic Church because he would not take a vow of celibacy and abandon his wife; King Hywel the Good, who brought the law to Wales in the tenth century; the fierce warrior Brychen who sired twelve sons and twenty-four daughters and savagely put down all attacks on his kingdolorious histories in which the lad had been raised But it was not all glory Rhys's ancestors wereboy used to listen to the tales of hell that his father and his uncles recounted They talked of the terrible times when there was no work, when the rich coalfields of Gwent and Carht between the companies and the miners, and the miners were debased by a poverty that eroded ath and finally made him surrender

When the mines were open, it was another kind of hell Most of Rhys's family had died in the mines Sohed their blackened lungs away Few had lived past the age of thirty

Rhys used to listen to his father and his aging young uncles discussing the past, the cave-ins and the cripplings and the strikes; talking of the good ti boy they see his years in the darkness of the earth appalled Rhys He knew he had to escape

He ran away from home when he elve He left the valleys of coal and went to the coast, to Sully Ranny Bay and Lavernock, where the rich tourists flocked, and the young boy fetched and carried andladies down the steep cliffs to the beach, lugging heavy picnic baskets, driving a pony cart at Penarth, and working at the amusement park at Whitmore Bay

He was only a few hours away from home, but the distance could not be measured The people here were froined such beautiful people or such glorious finery Each woant and splendid This was the world where he belonged, and there was nothing he would not do to make it his

By the tih e to London He spent the first three days sirily drinking in the incredible sights and the sounds and the smells

His first job was as a delivery boy at a draper's shop There were two s both, and a fe every time he looked at her The men treated Rhys as he was meant to be treated, like dirt He was a curiosity He dressed peculiarly, had abominable manners and spoke with an incomprehensible accent They could not even pronounce his name They called him Rice, and Rye, and Rise "It's pronounced Reese," Rhys kept telling them

The girl took pity on him Her na with three other girls One day she allowed the young boy to walk her ho Rhys was overco to be his first sexual experience, but when he began to put his arhed "I'ive you soet yourself some proper clothes and a bit of education and learn yourself so face and looked into Rhys's deep blue eyes, and said softly, "You're gonna be a bit of all right when you grow up"

If you want to make somethin' of yourself That was the moment when the fictitious Rhys Willianorant boy with no background, no breeding, no past, no future But he had ih He started with the ie of what he wanted to be, who he intended to be When he looked in his rubby little boy with a funny accent; his e was polished and suave and successful Little by little, Rhys began to ht school, and he spent his weekends in art galleries He haunted public libraries and went to the theater, sitting in the gallery, studying the fine clothes of the men seated in the stalls He scriood restaurant, where he carefully copied the table manners of others He observed and learned and re up the future

In one short year Rhys had learned enough to realize that Gladys Siirl as already beneath his tastes He quit the draper's shop and went to work as a clerk at a chee chain He was almost sixteen now, but he looked older He had filled out and was taller Woood looks and his quick, flattering tongue He was an instant success in the shop Female customers would wait until Rhys was available to take care of them He dressed well and spoke correctly, and he knew he had co way from Gwent and Carmarthen, but when he looked in the mirror, he was still not satisfied The journey he intended to make was still ahead of him

Within two years Rhys Williaer of the shop where he worked The district , Williams Work hard and one day you'll be the superintendent of half a dozen stores"

Rhys alht of anyone's a to school He was studying business ad and coe in the mirror was at the top of the ladder; Rhys felt he was still at the botto salesman walked in one day, watched Rhys char products they had no use for, and said, "You're wasting your tier pond"

"What did you have in mind?" Rhys asked

"Let me talk to my boss about you"

Teeks later Rhys orking as a sales firm He was one of fifty salesmen, but when Rhys looked in his special mirror, he knew that that was not true His only coe now, closer to the fictitious character he was creating AWhat he was trying to do was impossible Everyone knew that one had to be born with those qualities; they could not be created But Rhys did it He becae he had envisioned

He traveled around the country, selling the fir He would return to London full of practical suggestions, and he quickly began to move up the ladder

Three years after he had joined the coer Under his skillful guidance the coan to expand

And four years later, Saer in Rhys

"You're liketo show you how" And he had

Sam Roffe had been a brilliant e, Rhys Williams had becoivenvarious divisions, troubleshooting in whatever part of the world he was needed, coordinating the different branches of Roffe and Sons, creating new concepts In the end Rhys knewthe company than anyone except Saical successor to the presidency Onefro 707-320, one of a fleet of eight planes, Sam Roffe had complimented Rhys on a lucrative deal that he had concluded with the Venezuelan government

"There'll be a fat bonus in this for you, Rhys"

Rhys had replied quietly, "I don't want a bonus, Sam I'd prefer some stock and a place on your board of directors"

He had earned it, and both men were aware of it But Sae the rules, even for you Roffe and Sons is a privately held company No one outside of the family can sit on the board or hold stock"

Rhys had known that, of course He attended all board s, but not as a member He was an outsider Sam Roffe was the last male in the Roffe bloodline The other Roffes, Sam's cousins, were females The men they had married sat on the board of the company Walther Gassner, who had married Anna Roffe; Ivo Palazzi, married to Simonetta Roffe; Charles Martel, married to Helene Roffe And Sir Alec Nichols, whose mother had been a Roffe

So Rhys had been forced to make a decision He knew that he deserved to be on the board, that one day he should be running the company Present circu Rhys had decided to stay, to wait and see what happened Saht him patience And now Sam was dead

The office lights blazed on again, and Hajib Kafir stood in the doorway Kafir was the Turkish sales er for Roffe and Sons He was a short, swarthy man ore diamonds and his fat belly like proud ornaments He had the disheveled air of a man who had dressed hastily So Sophie had not found hiht A side effect of Sam Roffe's death Coitus interruptus

"Rhys!" Kafir was exclaiive me! I had no idea you were still in Istanbul! You were on your way to catch a plane, and I had soent business to - "

"Sit down, Hajib Listen carefully I want you to send four cables in co to different countries I want theers Do you understand?"

"Of course," Kafir said, bewildered "Perfectly"

Rhys glanced at the thin, gold Baume & Mercier watch on his wrist "The New City Post Office will be closed Send the cables from Yeni Posthane Cad I want them on their ithin thirty minutes" He handed Kafir a copy of the cable he had written out "Anyone who discusses this will be instantly discharged"

Kafir glanced at the cable and his eyes widened "My God!" he said "Oh, my God!" He looked up at Rhys's dark face "How - how did this terrible thing happen?"

"Sam Roffe died in an accident," Rhys said

Now, for the first tio to what he had been pushing away fro about: Elizabeth Roffe, Sahter She enty-four now When Rhys had first irl with braces on her teeth, fiercely shy and overweight, a lonely rebel Over the years Rhys had watched Elizabeth develop into a very special young woence and spirit She had become close to Sam Rhys kne deeply the neould affect her He would have to tell her himself

Two hours later, Rhys Williams was over the Mediterranean on a company jet, headed for New York